


A Lesson in Patience

by MilliesSong (SirensSong)



Series: Life Lessons [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alpha Armitage Hux, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, M/M, Omega Kylo Ren, Omegaverse, courting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 02:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11614083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirensSong/pseuds/MilliesSong
Summary: The road to destiny is long and requires far, far too many gifts.





	A Lesson in Patience

**Author's Note:**

> As always, huge round of thanks to the beta, RottenRice.

For the most part, Hux considered himself fairly good at judging the sex of whoever it was he was interacting with. Despite the scent blocking technology within the armor the First Order used, Hux prided himself on being able to tell. He was rarely wrong in his assessments. Which was why the first time Kylo Ren took off his helmet in a joint meeting with Snoke, Hux was forced to go back and reassess every interaction they’d had up to that point.

Kylo Ren radiated everything that an Alpha did. Complete reassurance in himself and his own power, no fear in the face of any threat, and more than either of those things, the idiotic bullheaded tendencies that left him seemingly unable to tell when the odds were against him and he should probably back down instead of rushing forward thoughtlessly.

(It was a tendency Hux had only gotten away from in his adult years, and even then, it was only after being firmly put back in his place time and time again as a teenager.)

Despite every sign pointing to Kylo Ren being an Alpha, when he removed his helmet, the scent coming from him was the faintly sweet scent of an Omega. Initially, Hux thought perhaps Kylo just smelled of an Omega, but there was no other scent mixed in, no underlying Alpha scent that was being covered up. Which meant that Kylo Ren was actually an Omega. And when he looked over at Hux, no doubt sensing the eyes on him, his expression was dark and full of challenge, his chin held high as he seemed to silently dare Hux to make a comment.

For the rest of the meeting, Hux had to spend more time than he cared to admit to making sure none of his sudden thoughts reached either Kylo or Snoke. After all, he really didn’t find the idea of being slaughtered where he stood for fantasizing about the Supreme Leader’s apprentice an appealing way to die.

~-~

Deciding how exactly he would go ahead with his plan to court Kylo took almost two weeks to finalize. Hux wasn’t an idiot, he held no delusions about the typical, traditional courting methods being effective. Winning Kylo over was going to require much more effort than a few pretty words and an invitation to dinner, or demonstrations of how well Hux could provide for him.

He began with a few gifts. Each of them were delivered quietly to Kylo’s quarters, about two to three weeks apart from each other, since acquiring such fine things in the middle of a war was hardly an easy task. Hux signed off on them to make sure it was clear who they were from, but otherwise didn’t include anything written, foregoing the idea of leaving a note. He was sure his intentions would be clear enough, and Kylo could come to him when he was ready to, rather than feeling pressured to make any sort of decision.

First, he left Kylo a new cowl. The fabric of the one he constantly had wound around his throat looked coarse and rough, and despite the neck piece of his uniform that probably prevented it from chafing his skin, it still looked uncomfortable. And since Hux didn’t know all that much about Kylo’s personal interests, not yet, he was forced to default to what Omegas tended to enjoy. And one of the main things was soft, comfortable items. A new cowl made of a high quality fabric only made sense as a first gift.

Hux never saw him wear it, but that didn’t discourage him.

The second gift was a set of candles he’d more stumbled across than gone looking for. They were apparently meant to promote relaxation, specifically for meditation purposes. The scent they gave off was light and pleasant when Hux lit one to test it, and though he wasn’t sure he actually found them relaxing, he figured they couldn’t hurt. If nothing else, they did smell pleasant, and perhaps Kylo would appreciate them just for that.

For his third gift, he purchased a set of pillows that were the same as the ones he used himself. The First Order wasn’t exactly known for providing its officers with creature comforts, and the standard bedding supplied, even to high ranking officers, was far from pleasant. The set of pillows he used, however, were something of a dream. Hux had no way of knowing if Kylo was given better provisions than High Command, but he doubted it. And Kylo just didn’t seem the type to purchase something like that for himself.

Next was an expensive brand of tea, again something Hux favored for himself but could only get his hands on once in a blue moon. The taste of it was sweet and fruity, and on nights when he simply couldn’t get his mind to turn off, a cup of it was enough to ease him enough that he could actually manage to sleep. When he managed to acquire a batch of the tea leaves, he’d been without any of it for half a standard year, and parting with it almost physically pained him. He might not have been able to, if not for the meeting with Snoke and Kylo a few days prior, in which he’d clearly been able to see the heavy, dark circles under Kylo’s eyes. Hux could only hope the tea would prove as effective for Kylo as it was for himself.

At the next meeting a couple days after the tea had been delivered, Hux was again granted the chance to see Kylo without his helmet, as now that Hux was aware of his sex he didn’t seem to feel the need to wear it during the meetings. He looked far more well rested than he had before, and while there were plenty of other possible explanations for why Kylo had obviously been sleeping better, Hux chose to believe it was due at least in part to the tea. Regardless, Hux walked away from the meeting with renewed confidence that his gifts were being well received, even though Kylo had yet to speak to him about any of them.

The final gift Hux managed to get to Kylo before the inevitable confrontation was a set of blankets and sheets to go with the pillows. The sheets were silken, very pleasant against bare skin, and the blankets were soft and plush. For lack of knowing what other color Kylo might like them in, Hux went with a standard black, figuring there was no way to go wrong with that since Kylo obviously didn’t have an aversion to black, even if it wasn’t a favorite.

It was only a few hours after delivering his most recent gift that there was a request for entry at his quarters. Assuming it was Phasma, since she frequently stopped by in the evenings for a drink and so they could both bitch about their respective underlings, he granted entry without even bothering to see who it was first. The heavy footfalls that neared him a few moments later were not reminiscent of Phasma’s gait, however, nor was the lack of a greeting.

Looking up from his datapad, Hux straightened from where he’d been lounging back in one of the chairs in the receiving room of his quarters, surprised to see Kylo Ren standing a few feet away. Hux set down his datapad on his lap, trying to ignore the curl of anticipation in his chest. Hopefully this was what he had been waiting for.

“Ren,” he greeted casually, keeping his tone pleasant and light. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Kylo made no move to take off his helmet, but he did tilt his head slightly. “What are you playing at?” he asked, and the anger behind the demand was obvious even through the vocoder.

Slightly taken aback, because he had certainly not been expecting anger, Hux just looked at Kylo for a few moments, his brow furrowing slightly. “I beg your pardon?” he said finally, beginning to think that perhaps this wasn’t about the gifts at all but something else entirely. After all, he couldn’t imagine why Kylo would be angry about being given fine things.

“What are you playing at?” Kylo repeated, words slowed down this time as if that would make it any more understandable. Hux just arched an eyebrow, choosing not to respond this time, and eventually Kylo made a sound of frustration and flexed the fingers of both hands, curling them into fists at his sides. “All your damned… trinkets, or whatever,” he finally elaborated. “What do you think you’re going to accomplish, what do you even want? Do you think throwing a few expensive things at me now that you know what I am means I’m going to lay down and spread my legs for you? I was under the impression you were more intelligent than that. You can quit now, because it’s not going to happen.”

“Ren,” Hux finally managed to interject, once he’d stopped staring in shock at the sudden tirade. There had always been the chance of his advances being rejected, of course, but he had not expected his intentions to be so wild misinterpreted. “Why don’t you sit down, take off that helmet, and have a proper discussion with me about this,” he suggested, taking note of how heavily Kylo was breathing. Apparently this was something he was quite worked up about. Perhaps leaving his gifts without any sort of explanation or comment had been a miscalculation.

The minutes stretched out as Kylo just continued to look at him without saying anything else or making any move to do as requested. Hux looked back at him steadily, ignoring his datapad when it chimed at him and instead turning it off completely to set it aside. “You have my undivided attention, Ren,” he urged, voice a little softer this time. “Sit down, let me explain myself. I assure you, if I was just looking for a quick fuck, I would have proposed that to you rather than courting you.”

For another few long moments, Kylo continued to not respond, but then finally raised his hands to thumb at the release catches on his helmet. Hux allowed himself a slight smile, relaxing back into his chair as Kylo set his helmet down on the small table and sat in one of the other chairs. Hux waited for him to settle, taking note of how plainly uncomfortable he looked and silently deciding not to press the issue too much. It seemed like Kylo might be more skittish than he’d realized.

“Courting me,” Kylo said finally, a few moments after he’d gone still in the chair. It wasn’t a question, but there was something about the manner with which he spoke that made it seem like one.

“Yes, courting you,” Hux confirmed, folding his hands in his lap and leveling Kylo with an even gaze. “I would waste neither my time nor my effort on someone who I only held sexual interest in. Something like that can generally be satisfied with far less trouble.” He was the General of the First Order, after all. There were plenty of Omegas among the ranks who would happily warm his bed for an evening, if he was so inclined. It was probably fortunate he considered himself too professional to take advantage.

“So then what, exactly, do you expect to come of this ‘courting’?” Kylo asked, and the same challenging fierceness from the first time he had taken his helmet off in Hux’s presence was in his gaze again. “Just because I’m an Omega doesn’t mean I want someone like you. Or any Alpha at all. I don’t need someone thinking they own me or that they can tell me what to do just because of my sex. I have no intentions of ever bonding or carrying a child. I will _never_ be a sweet, docile little homemaker. Whatever it is you want from me, I won’t offer it.”

Ah. Hux was quiet for a moment, just regarding Kylo, and it didn’t take much to see what could only be a sort of vulnerability under the way he was glaring. After another moment, Hux thought he understood, at least a little bit more than he had before. “I’m not looking for any of that,” he said steadily. Considering Kylo’s powers with the Force, he could only hope he would be able to tell that he was being genuine. “If I wanted some… simpering little creature to wait around for me in my quarters, I would have taken a mate already. I would never expect any such thing from you, Ren, and that is precisely why you have captured my interest. We may disagree at times on the bridge, but I respect you and the power you wield. In fact, it’s largely that you are perfectly capable of caring for yourself that has perked my interest. I have never met an Omega who acts like an Alpha before. I’m courting you because I believe we could make a fearsome partnership, and I wouldn’t mind the companionship of someone like yourself.”

Finished, Hux let himself smile slightly, content simply because some of the defensive aggression had faded from the way Kylo held himself. It had been replaced by open confusion, but that was better than aggression, and Hux was happy to wait while Kylo worked through what had been said.

“You don’t make any sense,” he said finally, standing from the chair and snatching up his helmet again. It was obvious he was preparing to leave again, but Hux’s smile only grew a little bit more.

“Would you like me to stop, Ren?” he asked, not minding that he was speaking to Kylo’s back now, and was once again unable to see his face. “I will respect your wishes, if that’s the case. All you need to do is say so, and I will end my attempts to court you immediately.”

Kylo’s step faltered and he paused, just for a few fleeting moments, before he continued to the door and let himself out without answering. But the pause, coupled with the lack of an answer, was all the answer Hux needed. His lips curled up into a true smile as the door slid closed behind Kylo, and he reached to pick up his datapad again.

He had Kylo’s blessing to continue courting him, then, or as close to it as he was ever going to get. And he knew just what he was going to gift him next.

~-~

_ [12:15] What are these. -KR _

_ [12:17] What are what? -AH _

_ [12:18] These things. The little metal rings. Are they supposed to serve some purpose? -KR _

_ [12:18] Ah. They’re jewelry. -AH _

_ [12:21] Jewelry. These things. Little pieces of bendable metal. -KR _ _  
_

_ [12:22] They go in your hair, Ren. They’re meant to be braided or tied into place. -AH _

_ [12:22] Oh. -KR  
_ _ [12:25] Well I won’t be wearing them. -KR _

_ [12:27] Do you not wear any kind of jewelry as a rule? Or is it just the idea of the hair rings that you find objectionable? -AH _

_ [12:35] I don’t find the idea objectionable. -KR _

_ [12:50] I see. -AH  
_ _ [12:55] If you stop by my quarters tomorrow morning, I can show you how to put them in. -AH _

~-~

Hux hadn’t actually expected Kylo to show up the next morning. He was only partially dressed when the request for entry came, without his boots and only a black undershirt covering his chest. The other pieces of his uniform were all still hanging neatly. He hadn’t even gelled his hair into order yet. Honestly, Hux hadn’t known Kylo was capable of getting up early enough to meet him before his shift on the bridge began. He was not going to turn him away, however.

Kylo was quiet, every line of his body revealing that he was nervous and unsure, but also doing a decent enough job of trying to hide that. There was still a thin veneer of anger about him, as if he expected to be mocked for having actually shown up, especially with the packages of little metal rings in his hand making the reason for his visit undeniable. Of course, mocking him was the last thing Hux planned to do. He’d wanted to get his fingers in Kylo’s hair since the first time he’d seen him unmasked, and he was not going to waste the chance now that it was being offered to him.

A few minutes later and he’d managed to achieve exactly that, sitting on the couch in the receiving chamber and Kylo sitting on the floor between his knees. Hux had gathered everything necessary the night before, just in case Kylo did actually show up, and he was glad for that now as he slowly drew the comb in his hand through Kylo’s hair, gently working out all the snarls from it. Not that there were many to find; it seemed Kylo took good care of his hair. It was silken in his fingertips, and looked like it was probably trimmed regularly to keep it healthy. Really, it was a shame Kylo didn’t let it grow longer, though he supposed if there was too much more weight to it, the lovely gentle curls in it would be pulled straight. He was also well aware of how dangerous long hair could be for someone who battled frequently, but that didn’t make it any less of a shame.

When Hux had started, Kylo had been tense under his hands, his shoulders a hard line. Slowly, though, Hux watched as that tension began to slowly melt away as he worked. It was something he would remember for the future, that apparently Kylo enjoyed having his hair played with. Hux knew very few people who didn’t enjoy the sensation, regardless of their sex, but that didn’t make the proof that Kylo was one of them any less monumental.

“Are you going to take these back out as soon as I finish putting them in?” he asked as he began to part a small section of hair from the rest. He kept his tone light and easy, framing it as an amused question to make sure Kylo didn’t take it as an accusation.

There were a few moments of silence, as if Kylo wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to answer, and then, “Only if I don’t like how they look. Or if they don’t fit under my helmet.”

Hux supposed he would just have to make sure they would fit under Kylo’s helmet, then. For the most part, he stayed quiet while he put a few small braids into Kylo’s hair, leaving the bulk of it loose. He hoped one day he might have a chance to do something more intricate, but his options were limited with the addition of the helmet, so he left each braid to hang down loosely. Once he’d finished them, he selected the packet of gold rings and began to carefully hook them into the braids, making sure each one would lay flat. The gold looked just as lovely against Kylo’s black hair as Hux had imagined it would, though by far the best part of the whole thing was that, by the time he had finished placing the last ring and making sure what of Kylo’s hair that was still loose had been brushed through again, Kylo had relaxed almost completely. He was leaning into the couch, not into Hux himself, but it was still lovely to see him looking relaxed and content, compared to how he had looked every other time Hux had seen him without his helmet.

After, as Kylo made to leave, apparently content with his appearance, Hux was almost positive he caught sight of a small, hesitant smile before the helmet blocked it from view. “Comfortable? Or shall I take them out again for you?” he asked, unwilling to let Kylo slip away quite yet.

“It’s comfortable,” Kylo answered, the vocoder regrettably back in place. There was a moment of quiet, before he added, “Thank you,” so quietly that if not for the vocoder picking up on it, Hux might not have heard it at all.

Hux let himself smile at that. The morning had gone extremely well, and he was going to be a in good mood for his bridge shift. Until someone on his crew inevitably did something incredibly stupid, anyway, but he hoped that wouldn’t happen for at least a few hours. “You’re very welcome, Ren,” he said. “And feel free to stop by any morning you feel like having them put in. As long as there’s not some emergency, I’m more than happy to take the time to put them in for you.”

Just as he had the last time, Kylo left without answering him, but Hux was fairly certain it was as good as a promise that he would be back.

~-~

In terms of the how the courting progressed, slowly was being generous. Kylo’s missions took him away from the Finalizer frequently, and there were periods of weeks at a time where he came and went and Hux saw almost nothing of him. He made an effort to be present in the hangar when Kylo arrived and departed, but that wasn’t always possible. When Kylo was on the ship, during work hours things remained strained between them. They had always disagreed on various points when it came to their co-commandership, and it seemed Hux’s intent of courting Kylo was not going to change that. He did, however, make an effort to keep their quarrels about work and away from personal insults, and it seemed Kylo did the same.

It was a small thing, really. But it felt immense.

Mornings and evenings were when Hux could sometimes expect to see Kylo. If Kylo made an appearance in the morning, it was generally with one of the packets of hair rings in his hand, or on rarer occasions one of the other items of jewelry Hux had gifted him since then, all made to be woven into his hair. Feathers, charms, gems, delicate chains; Kylo seemed to enjoy dressing himself up in that one aspect, so Hux was only too happy to oblige. He learned quickly that Kylo was not a morning person and preferred to let himself be a little pampered in silence as he leaned back against Hux’s legs. Trying to make too much conversation tended to leave Kylo irritable and snappish, his temper short. On the other hand, if he was quiet, he would occasionally earn of few minutes of Kylo dozing lightly with his head on one of his thighs after he’d finished, before he would rouse himself and head out, whether to train or return to bed Hux didn’t know and hadn’t asked.

As pleasant as the mornings were, it was the evenings they spent together Hux looked forward to the most. Though initially Kylo had shied away from the idea, after promising multiple times that he was not intending for anything sexual to happen, Kylo had agreed. And since then, they had become steadily more common. The first time, Hux had tried and failed spectacularly to cook something in the small kitchenette within his quarters that had, until then, gone mainly unused. It had been slightly humiliating, since the stench of burned food had lingered in his quarters and refused to be covered up by anything else, but had ended up being something of a blessing in disguise.

Kylo’s nose had wrinkled the moment he took off his mask. He was standing in the receiving chamber, just a few steps away from the door, while Hux stood in the door that lead into the cramped kitchenette. He’d only just finished lighting scented candles on the counter, hoping the pleasant scent would be enough to cover the burned food stench.

“Were you trying to cook?” Kylo had asked, looking torn between confused, put off, and something that was perhaps just a little bit vulnerable.

Hux sighed, raising a hand to run his fingers through his hair, which was clean and loose from the pomade thanks to his earlier shower. “If the scent bothers you, we can reschedule for another time. I’m sorry about this,” he answered, figuring it was enough of a confirmation without actually admitting to it.

Kylo hadn’t moved. Instead he’d just watched Hux, the distance between them too much for Hux to be able to read his expression properly. “Do you cook and burn shit often, or was this attempt… for me?”

Already embarrassed, Hux was tempted to say that of course it hadn’t been for Kylo, even though that was a blatant lie. But there was something very clearly vulnerable and unsure about the question, the way Kylo said it, that made him pause and reconsider his words before opening his mouth. He’d already figured out that Kylo was incredibly skittish about being courted, though he didn’t yet know if that was due to having been badly hurt by some Alpha in his past or a lack of experience or something else. The last thing he wanted to do was make Kylo more wary of him than he already was and risk losing whatever small chance he had with him.  
  
“It was for you,” he admitted, after only a few seconds, though it had felt like much longer. “But my skills in the kitchen are… nonexistent, I’m afraid. I’ll request for a droid to bring up dinner, instead. For now, I thought perhaps we could just watch a bad holofilm, for the evening? Unless you’d rather wait for another night,” he added after a beat, remembering that his quarters really did smell rather unpleasant now, and would until a service droid came in the next day to eliminate the stench.

“A holofilm sounds pleasant, actually,” Kylo agreed, and Hux had looked up in surprise, having figured Kylo would take the chance to postpone and run with it. Instead, he watched Kylo put the helmet down on the coffee table and then curl up on one end of the couch.

The evening had been mostly quiet, as Hux kept to his side of the couch, not wanting to encroach on Kylo’s personal space without an invitation. It had been a pleasant evening, despite the ruined attempt at dinner, and Hux felt significantly more confident about his chances than he normally did after Kylo had retired to his own quarters that evening. Kylo had confided to him, quietly, as the credits flickered by, that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d done something like watched a holofilm with someone.

It was a small comment, but it had given Hux insight into something he’d expected but never had absolute proof of. Since before he’d even learned Kylo was an Omega, he’d suspected he had been kept isolated for much of his life, between the Jedi temple and then Snoke’s training. This was just proof, and he’d started to take the moments of quiet vulnerability as insecurity and surprise that someone seemed to want to spend time with him for reasons beyond sex. Kylo was lonely, but incredibly nervous about accepting any invitations for any kind of companionship. Hux wanted to know why, and was determined to find out eventually so he could come up with the best ways to soothe it all.

The first evening did the trick to prove to Kylo that he wasn’t being asked around purely for sex, because the frequency of his visits slowly increased. Sometimes Hux invited him, and other times Kylo simply showed up. One memorable occasion when Hux had been working late on the bridge, Kylo had appeared and then hovered around until he’d finished and accompanied him back to his quarters.

Now, something like eight standard months since Hux had first begun to court Kylo, he lay sprawled out across his couch on his back, propped up against the arm of it with a pillow under his neck. Kylo was curled up halfway on top of him, pressed against the back of the couch and with his head on Hux’s chest, one of his legs tossed over Hux’s hips. Considering Kylo was both larger and heavier than Hux was himself, he found it incredibly impressive that Kylo could find so many ways to curl up at his side or on top of him, seeming much smaller when he was like that. They’d moved from films to watching awful holodramas, which were infinitely more amusing and shorter, so that if they ended up drifting into conversation instead of paying attention they didn’t end up needing to rewatch half a film. The holodramas being more amusing also gave them plenty of chances to snicker to each other about how awful, ridiculous, or generally stupid people were.

While they watched, Hux ran his fingers through Kylo’s hair, stroked up and down over his spine, brushed his knuckles back and forth over the nape of his neck, just generally allowed himself to touch. Once he had relaxed, it had become clear very quickly that Kylo was starved for physical affection, and Hux was only too happy to provide. He had come to enjoy the evenings spent with Kylo so much that, on more than one occasion, the idea of courting completely escaped him. He didn’t care anymore if Kylo viewed him as a potential mate or not, or what his chances were. Under the veneer of the terrifying Force user and the insecurity of only being wanted around for sex, Kylo was clever and witty and generally just a joy to talk with.

Between his intelligence, his beauty, and the sheer, intoxicating power he wielded, Hux didn’t understand how he was apparently the first Alpha to court Kylo. Not when Kylo was literally everything any Alpha could ever want.

Hux would be ecstatic to have Kylo as his mate. But, if it was only this friendship with him that Kylo wanted, well. Hux was content with that as well, as long as he got to keep Kylo around in some capacity.

The holodrama still played on in the background, but Hux had closed his eyes before the current episode started, beginning to fall asleep but unwilling to cut the evening short. He could never be sure when they would next be able to do this, so he’d be damned if he sent Kylo on his way just because he was a little more tired than normal himself. His petting stopped and started intermittently as he drifted in and out of a light doze.

Kylo shifted on top of him, his chin digging into the center of Hux’s chest suddenly, and the eyes on him were obvious. He didn’t bother to open his own, though he did raise an eyebrow slightly in silent question. “You’re falling asleep,” Kylo said finally.

“Astute observation as always, Kylo,” Hux answered, still without opening his eyes, though he did raise his hand and begin to card his fingers through Kylo’s hair again, tucking a lock of it back behind one of his ears.

“I’ll head out. You should go to bed if you’re this tired.” They were only a couple episodes into the evening, but Kylo started to push himself up. He didn’t sound upset, not in the way that spoke of anger anyway, but Hux thought there was something slightly disappointed in his tone. Of course, he knew Kylo looked forward to these evenings as well, even if it might be for different reasons.

“Shhh, stay,” Hux murmured, shifting his hand from Kylo’s hair to curl around the back of his neck, exerting a gentle pressure there. He had no hope of keeping Kylo if he actually wanted to leave, not when Kylo was physically more powerful than him and had the Force at his disposal, but it wouldn’t stop him from trying. Despite that, Kylo slumped back down against his chest, his only protest a quiet huff. A small smile curled up Hux’s lips, and he went back to running his fingers through Kylo’s hair. “Good,” he said quietly.

For a few minutes, the only sound was that of the holodrama, where some teenaged Beta female was shrieking about something to do with a dress not being perfectly to her liking. Not puffy enough, or something equally ridiculous. Hux didn’t need to look at the screen to know it was probably some atrocious color or pattern.

“Why?” Kylo finally asked, and Hux, who had dozed off again at some point, just hummed quietly in question. “I mean. Don’t you want something more than this, from me? Why are you so content with this?”

That was leading to a conversation that was far too serious to be having right now, so Hux groaned quietly as he forced himself to open his eyes, shifting until he could look down at Kylo. All he could see was his dark hair, though, because Kylo was hiding his face on purpose, looking at the screen instead of at Hux. With a soft sigh, Hux wound both of his arms around Kylo’s shoulders.

“Not really, no,” he said simply. “You know that I’m courting you. Of course that means that I want you as my mate. I think you’re my ideal match. But you’ve expressed that you have no interest in that kind of thing, which is perfectly fine. I enjoy these evenings with you and I’m perfectly content to just continue as we are.” That didn’t mean he was going to stop buying Kylo little things to express his affections, not unless Kylo explicitly asked him to stop, but he also would never ask Kylo for anything he wasn’t willing to give.

“So… you’re not eventually expecting one of these evenings to lead to sex, then.”

Hux grimaced. That was something he never brought up because it set Kylo off quickly and violently. His reaction when he’d first figured out he was being courted had been enough for Hux to leave that issue well alone. He wasn’t sure where the idea that he could only want Kylo for what was between his legs had come from, because plenty of Omegas within the Order were bonded and had children but still worked as officers. They didn’t have a large enough population to be picky about sex and let it dictate what people could do. So, Hux mostly blamed the New Republic.

“I wouldn’t say no to sex,” he answered finally, because lying to the Force user was generally a very poor idea. “You’re gorgeous and I’m certainly attracted to you, it goes along with the wanting you for my mate thing. But no, I certainly don’t expect it from you, don’t be ridiculous. If all you ever want with me is to lay around and watch these stupid shows, and to let me do your hair, then okay. I would rather stick around as one of your friends and do things like this than not be around you at all.” He paused, allowing himself another small smile. Kylo was still keeping his face hidden, but that was all right. “Forgive me, but I’ve become rather fond of you over the past months. I’m not going to jeopardize this by thinking with my cock.”

Silence reigned again for long minutes. Giving Kylo time to think over what had been said, Hux turned his attention back to the screen, watching the girl that was the focus of the particular episode continue to throw her tantrums and belittle the others around her. Kylo hadn’t pulled away from him, so he wasn’t too worried about him having taken what he’d said badly.

Finally, Kylo shifted enough to look up at him, and Hux turned his gaze from the screen to meet his eyes.

“You’re really not going to get fed up with me not wanting certain things and toss me aside. You don’t expect me to become more… typically Omega over time.” It wasn’t a question, not really, but Kylo sounded skeptical anyway. Skeptical, but like he wanted it to be true, and Hux was left wondering again what, who, had made him so jaded. Maybe one day, Kylo would tell him.

“I’m really not,” he assured without any hesitation. “And I really don’t.”

Kylo held his gaze for a few moments, his eyes narrowed slightly. He was intense like that, as if he was staring into Hux’s mind, and the only reason he was sure that wasn’t exactly what was going on was because he’d experienced it a couple times before and he could always tell. Then, finally, Kylo put his head back down, shifting around for a few moments until he stilled with a quiet sigh, settling in again. “Okay,” he mumbled, the words muffled further against Hux’s chest.

“Okay,” Hux parroted. He considered his options for a few moments, then kissed the top of Kylo’s head quickly, settling in again himself afterward.

Perhaps it was only him hearing things because of how tired he was and how he kept doing off, but he could have sworn that for a few moments, there was the distinct sound of an Omega’s purr.

~-~

It was fairly obvious the General was spending progressively more time with an Omega. He came to the bridge some mornings with something laid back in the relaxed set of his shoulders and with an ease to his expression. It didn’t make him any less strict or terrifying if someone fucked up, but it was there all the same. He always smelled faintly of an Omega on those mornings, but that was all his bridge crew could surmise. They had no further information; Hux was never spotted publicly with any Omega, and the scent that clung to him wasn’t one that anyone was familiar with.

There was all sorts of speculation, and Phasma didn’t bother trying to put a stop to it. Hux had been keeping her in the dark, as well, and it had really started to get on her nerves. When it had been once in a while she hadn’t cared. But now he smelled of the mysterious Omega more often than he didn’t, but whenever she asked about it, he’d just give her a wry smile and refused to comment. Not to mention how irritating it was that now when they met for drinks and to chat, it was in one of the officer’s lounges, rather than in his quarters like before. She wanted to know what he was hiding, and why.

Which was why she was heading to his quarters now. It was the middle of the night cycle, yes, but Hux had apparently turned his datapad off immediately after his bridge shift, considering he hadn’t answered her since then. It was wildly unlike Hux to not at least acknowledge when she messaged him, and Phasma only wished she was making this check in because she was concerned something might be wrong. She fully expected to find him occupied with his mystery Omega - that was the point.

There was a time when she would have felt bad about using the override code for his quarters for this, when he’d given it to her only for use in an emergency. But that time was long passed. If he wanted her to continue to feel guilty about it, he should have considered that before refusing to tell her anything about the Omega that he’d been seeing consistently for half a standard year now. Really, he was lucky she hadn’t done this ages ago.

Having expected to find Hux in his bedroom this late into the cycle, Phasma paused just inside the door, surprised to see the holoprojector running and casting a flickering light over the receiving chamber, the volume turned down so low it was almost inaudible. Both Hux’s scent and the scent of the Omega were thick in the air, tainted with a distinct edge of arousal that left Phasma wishing she’d come in her armor instead of casual dress, so she could have pulled on her helmet and blocked out the scent. At least it meant she would find what she was looking for, though, as she walked further into the room.

Rounding the couch, intent on checking the bedroom, she stopped dead as she realized the couch was not unoccupied. Instead two half-dressed figures were on it, both fast asleep. Hux’s hair made him obvious even in the distorted lighting, on his back on the couch. The other figure, though, Phasma didn’t immediately recognize. The body type of the man splayed on his stomach on top of Hux would not have led her to believe he was an Omega, but the scent was undeniable. On top of that, he nestled into Hux in a way that strayed towards Omega, with his face tucked up against Hux’s neck, under his jaw. Both Hux and the Omega were dressed only in standard issue sweatpants - at least that answered one question, the Omega had to be a member of the First Order. So it was just a matter of figuring out why she didn’t recognize him or his scent, and no one else seemed to either. Initially her mind went to one of her troopers, but while that wasn’t impossible, she couldn’t think of any circumstances in which Hux would have become close to a trooper. No, he had to be an officer of some kind.

Looking around, hoping for some kind of clue as to who he was, Phasma let her gaze drop down onto the floor. No black uniform was strewn about among the clothing on the floor, but that wasn’t surprising, if this was planned of course they wouldn’t have been in uniform. The masses of black clothing that were there revealed little. Especially in the poor lighting, it could all belong to anyone.

It was only after circling the couch again that Phasma finally noticed the helmet sitting on one of the side tables, on top of what looked like Hux’s datapad. Her gaze widened as she froze in place, staring at the too familiar silver striping for a few long moments before she turned back to the couch, looking more closely at the Omega sleeping soundly against Hux’s chest.

There was no way that pretty creature could be Kylo Ren.

Thinking that perhaps the helmet was some kind of replica that Hux had for the sake of throwing around when Ren had irritated him, she walked towards the table it was on, reaching toward it with the intent of picking it up to see if it was fake. She didn’t get to touching it, though, instead freezing again because lying behind it was the unmistakable design of Ren’s lightsaber.

Kriffing hells, it was Kylo Ren. Phasma turned back, looking at the pair again. Neither of them had stirred, and they both looked utterly content. Ren was lovelier than she would ever have guessed, even if she’d known he was an Omega. Which she never would have considered, given his temper. Really, it was no surprise Hux had been so determined to keep it all to himself. If the ship at large knew, at least a quarter of the Alphas on the ship would have been vying for his attention, since he was apparently as pretty as he was powerful, and too many Alphas were stupid enough to disregard how dangerous Ren often was.

She might not have counted herself among the number that would have tried to go after him, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to kill Hux for not sharing what was going on with her. Once he woke up on his own, anyway, she amended to herself as she quietly turned the holoprojector off and tossed a blanket that had been over the back of a chair over the two of them, before quickly making her way back to the door to leave. Phasma was more than willing to face down Hux’s anger when he realized she’d let herself into his quarters like she had, but there was no way in the seven hells she was going to risk waking up Ren and facing his wrath.

**Author's Note:**

> I have so much backstory for this AU that didn't make it into the series... So feel free to come bother me about it on tumblr at asklordren.tumblr.com
> 
> Edit: Went back in to add a section that seemed to have somehow vanished. Sorry for the confusion if you read it without!


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